Dell laptop freezes about 90 seconds after startup, after Windows XP restore

Dell laptop freezes about 90 seconds after startup, after Windows XP restore I'm trying to fix my brother's Dell laptop for him. He originally was unable to get into Windows (the screen would display "NTLDR not found" after boot), so I was able to repair the Windows XP installation from the Reinstallation disc that came with the system.
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Guest [Entry]

"Boot into safe mode. remove as many
programs from startup as possible.
Turn off as many windows services
possible. Disable everything you
don't need to test the startup
(including disabling optional
hardware).
Start windows in normal mode.
Turn on each windows service you disabled earlier. Wait 30 seconds between turning on each. Do the same for all your programs

A missing driver shouldn't cause a hang. A missing driver will just cause the hardware to be, well, missing.

The freeze could be hardware related. However, since it only occurs after some time, i think its most likely some software program causing problem during startup.

(i am assuming your computer is virus free, it might be a good idea to run Microsoft malware removal tool once you get the computer booted)"